Spoilers Star Trek: Deep Space Nine

[MarkB]

If you tried to make the DS9 version of Picard… well, you could, with Ezri, Garak, Julian, Kira, Quark, Worf, and maybe Miles. Brooks wouldn’t touch it. I think you’d mostly end up with a 6-8 episode nostalgia-fest with dark sci fi themes, probably similar to what was outlined in What We Left Behind - it’s 25 years later and some people have lost their way. You would need a younger generation - Jake, Molly, Jake’s younger brother, etc - to drive the storytelling.

There's not really the demand for it. But what I would hope is that Picard, Lower Decks and Prodigy between them have demonstrated that there is sufficient interest in just continuing the story of that post-TNG/DS9/Voyager setting in general, and working in ties to the preceding series as and when appropriate.

 

[pukunui]

Just watched the Maquis two-parter. Is that the only time they show up in DS9 or do subsequent episodes deal with them too?

Sisko and Dukat are the standouts here.

 

[Staffan]

Just watched the Maquis two-parter. Is that the only time they show up in DS9 or do subsequent episodes deal with them too?

Sisko and Dukat are the standouts here.

Oh, they'll be back.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

There's not really the demand for it.

Only in the sense that DS9 felt complete enough that it doesn't kind of require a continuation. I'm not sure there was much "demand" for "the further adventures of Picard" before Picard either, indeed, I'm not sure there was that much demand for the first two seasons of Picard at all!

I do think there is and has been significant "demand" for a continuation of TNG/DS9 (and to a much lesser extent VOY) for the last 20+ years, and Lower Decks particularly reflected that. It's weird that it's been largely ignored in favour of pre-TNG-set stuff but I wonder if it is because it seems like the generation who have actually been decision-making about Star Trek for the last couple of decades are very much people for whom TOS was "the real Star Trek", I guess because they were all in their late teens and early twenties when TNG came on, but grew up with TOS reruns? Still seems odd. Especially with stuff like upcoming Academy series which would have been very easy to set in a TNG-ish era, but instead is set in a future so far away it's basically pure tech = magic even compared to most Trek.

 

[BookTenTiger]

Only in the sense that DS9 felt complete enough that it doesn't kind of require a continuation. I'm not sure there was much "demand" for "the further adventures of Picard" before Picard either, indeed, I'm not sure there was that much demand for the first two seasons of Picard at all!

I do think there is and has been significant "demand" for a continuation of TNG/DS9 (and to a much lesser extent VOY) for the last 20+ years, and Lower Decks particularly reflected that. It's weird that it's been largely ignored in favour of pre-TNG-set stuff but I wonder if it is because it seems like the generation who have actually been decision-making about Star Trek for the last couple of decades are very much people for whom TOS was "the real Star Trek", I guess because they were all in their late teens and early twenties when TNG came on, but grew up with TOS reruns? Still seems odd. Especially with stuff like upcoming Academy series which would have been very easy to set in a TNG-ish era, but instead is set in a future so far away it's basically pure tech = magic even compared to most Trek.

It would be interesting to do a post-DS9 show that continues the idea of a frontier settlement but isn't beholden to the same characters.

It could be set in the Gamma Quadrant. Post-Dominion, a lot of the Alpha Quadrant folks are trying to establish new territories, trade routes, political allies, etc.

One great thing that DS9 did was showing the challenges of personal relationships in a politically changing world. This could definitely be carried forward with Jem'Hadar, cults of the Prophet, maybe even Ferenginar trying to enter the Federation. Plus it would be an opportunity to introduce new cultures and aliens.

 

[overgeeked]

It would be interesting to do a post-DS9 show that continues the idea of a frontier settlement but isn't beholden to the same characters.

It could be set in the Gamma Quadrant. Post-Dominion, a lot of the Alpha Quadrant folks are trying to establish new territories, trade routes, political allies, etc.

One great thing that DS9 did was showing the challenges of personal relationships in a politically changing world. This could definitely be carried forward with Jem'Hadar, cults of the Prophet, maybe even Ferenginar trying to enter the Federation. Plus it would be an opportunity to introduce new cultures and aliens.

As much as I love the standard planet-of-the-week episodes of ship-based Star Trek, DS9 is far and away my favorite Star Trek because the setup gave us time to really live with the alien cultures presented instead of just getting a single 45-minute episode or the rare return episode a few seasons later.

The Ferengi, Klingons, Cardassians, Founders, Jem'Hadar, Trill, and Bajorans are so much more fleshed out and detailed in the lore specifically because of the time DS9 spent with them. Sure, TNG did a lot of heavy lifting with the Klingons, but they really flourished on DS9. The Ferengi, Cardassians, Trill, and Bajorans got maybe 1-2 episodes each on TNG.

For me DS9 worked so well because it took those interesting one-offs and built them up while also touching on long-standing fan favorites. You could easily repeat that along any border, in any era. There are so many one-off aliens we've seen through the years. Pick a few and drop their worlds near Ferengi space. Stir up the pot, and let it rip.

The Ferengi entering the Federation would be an interesting idea. Especially now. Really show what it would look like for a culture that's so utterly invested in capitalism and money as religion to move away from that and enter into a less greedy, less self-obsessed way of living in community with others. Putting sexism and exploitation of workers in the dustbin of history where they belong. Definitely topical. Maybe a bit on the nose. Would be a hard sell, but then we have Disney doing Andor so anything's possible.

 

[MarkB]

The Ferengi already joined the Federation in Lower Decks.

 

[overgeeked]

The Ferengi already joined the Federation in Lower Decks.

Yes, and?

 

[MarkB]

Yes, and?

Just saying, it's more of an "is" than a "would be". Certainly still some ground to explore there, just the actual qualification process is already done.

 

[overgeeked]

Just saying, it's more of an "is" than a "would be". Certainly still some ground to explore there, just the actual qualification process is already done.

Feels like a good time to remind you that the only Star Trek show currently airing is a prequel to the 1966 series TOS. What's in the past or future, what's done and what's not is really an incredibly mutable thing in fiction. Especially in a franchise with time travel that also botches and rewrites its own canon regularly.